RUA+ (which can be translated as "More Street" or "Street+") grew from one thoughtline:

What would it take for the place outside our door to become a place we truly care for together? How would it affect our own wellbeing and sense of belonging? Can we collectively beat the concrete towards greener neighborhoods?

For the past eight years, we have worked from a shared community and coworking space in Santana, a neighborhood in Peniche, Portugal. Every day we look out onto the streets, square, and people going about their lives.

We wanted our children to know their neighbors, ride bicycles safely, and grow up surrounded by trees, birds, and places that encourage connection. We wanted cleaner streets, healthier public spaces, and a stronger sense that this neighborhood belongs to the people who live here, and that they feel like they can take action in their hands when something needs to be done.

Instead of waiting for someone else to act, we started with small gestures: cleaning streets, caring for neglected areas, planting wherever we could, and building relationships with neighbors.

These small gestures became RUA+.

A place full of potential

Peniche sits on a windswept Atlantic peninsula shaped by fishing traditions, migration, tourism, and economic challenges. Visitors, surfers, seasonal workers, and newcomers arrive throughout the year, yet meaningful connections between people are often difficult to create.

Educational and cultural opportunities remain limited, and a culture of ecological stewardship is still emerging. A common local belief is that trees simply cannot grow here because of the climate.

We wanted to challenge that assumption—not through theory, but through small experiments and practice of bringing people outside, caring for their streets and talking to each other.

What we have already done

In 2021, governmental funding allowed us to expand our efforts.

Together with residents, other participants, and local partners, we cleaned neglected public land, created planting areas, built community composting infrastructure, established vegetable gardens, and began planting trees throughout the neighborhood.

One of our early successes came when two of the largest trees in the city were scheduled for removal. Working with local residents, we successfully advocated for their preservation, demonstrating how much these living landmarks mattered to the community.

Over the following years we:

• Installed a community composting system still used by local residents

• Created 10+ productive garden beds

• Planted and cared for around twenty young trees

• Activated vacant public spaces

• Organized tens of community gatherings and planting events

• Developed partnerships with local organizations and municipal actors

• Organised Compostival; a festival for soil health in partnership with a local nature preservation initiative that combines art and working on regenerating the soil

Most importantly, we showed that action is possible.

The project was never only about trees or greenery or cleaning. It was about shifting mindsets, creating relationships and demonstrating that ordinary people can shape the places where they live.

Where we are now

Like many grassroots initiatives, our work has not followed a straight line.

When funding ended, our team's capacity became limited. Some regenerated spaces have gradually fallen back into neglect. Garden beds sit empty. Young trees still need permanent homes. Public spaces require ongoing care.

Yet the relationships remain. The compost is still used. The trees continue to grow. The project is still strongly in our minds, not the least because it’s all the time in front of our eyes.

This next phase is about returning to the work with greater maturity, stronger relationships, and a clearer understanding of what is needed.

What we want to do next

Over the next 12–18 months, we want to complete and deepen the work we have already started.

1. Ecological regeneration

We will:

• Plant at least 40 additional trees

• Transplant existing trees from temporary containers into the ground

• Establish native flower meadows and pollinator habitats

• Expand biodiversity through drought-resistant shrubs and ground cover

• Maintain and improve community composting

• Revitalize the neighborhood vegetable garden

Species will be selected specifically for Peniche's coastal conditions and include trees and plants such as Maritime Pine, Stone Pine, Cork Oak, Olive Tree, European Fan Palm, Mastic Tree, Portuguese Crowberry, Rosemary, and Sea Thrift.

Our goal is to create resilient, low-water landscapes that support birds, insects, pollinators, and community life.

Parallelly, we want to hold on to the experimentation and the playfulness with trying out on more exotic species.

2. Open participation

Our primary community remains the people of Santana: residents, children, elders, café visitors, and neighbors passing through the square every day.

We will organize planting days, maintenance sessions, and community gatherings while continuing to collaborate with anyone willing to participate.

A key partner will be CERCIP, a vocational education center supporting people with disabilities, whose gardening programs offer valuable opportunities for participation, learning, and stewardship.

3. Documentation and knowledge sharing

One lesson from the first phase is that we spent most of our energy doing the work and didn’t allocate time in processing the documentation.

This time, it is one of the keys.

We will create articles, case studies and a short documentary sharing what we have learned about:

• Community-led placemaking

• Ecological regeneration in harsh coastal environments

• Building participation through small actions

• Long-term stewardship of public spaces

• Working with local institutions

Why this matters

At its heart, RUA+ is not (only) about greenery.

It is about cultivating a culture of care.

We believe the spaces we inhabit shape our wellbeing, relationships, and sense of belonging. When public spaces become neglected, social life often contracts alongside them. When people care for a place together, new possibilities emerge.

A shade of a tree becomes a meeting place. A garden becomes a classroom. A compost bin becomes a reason for neighbors to speak to one another.

Where we collectively as a team spend most of our days at the moment is in what we call Fluency in care: a study that reframes care as a collective resolve towards thrivable futures.
In it, we reflect directly on the ability of people and communities to notice, respond to, and take responsibility for the living systems around them.

This project seeks to make care visible, practical, nuanced, and contagious.

What success looks like

What we can do is directly connected to the funds we are able to raise. 

By the end of this phase (by the end of 2028) we aim to have:

• Planted at least 40 trees

• Established tens of native and climate-adapted plants

• Maintained community composting

• Reactivated the neighborhood vegetable garden

• Engaged approximately 500 participants through events and volunteering

• Strengthened partnerships with local organizations and municipal actors

• Produced publicly accessible articles, case studies, and a short documentary

• Translated the essence of Fluency in care into embodied, clear accessible practices 

Most importantly, success would mean that more people feel connected to this place and empowered to care for it.

Because if a small neighborhood on the edge of the Atlantic can transform neglected land into living, healthy community spaces, it becomes easier to imagine what might be possible elsewhere too.

RUA+ is our contribution to that possibility.

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xKzXjXkGUaog8rR58
Accounting for Bairros Saudáveis funding: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lCWgKaBuX9Gz69ZIoKWs9eY6unfooa1Xd9WN6QNhsfs/edit?usp=sharing